Written by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, DC Comics Kingdom Come was published in 1996 under the Elseworlds imprint. Alex Ross developed the concept from the original idea and painted the comic book in gouache, which has been appreciated by ardent comic book fans. DC Animated Universe veteran Bruce Timm also appreciates Alex Ross’ concept for the comic book.
Set in an alternate future of the DC Universe, Kingdom Come’s story takes the readers into a time when the Justice League team and the new-generation superheroes are fighting each other to determine the future of the planet. The limited series was reportedly written as an indictment against the growing trend of violent anti-hero archetypes that sprung out in the early 1990s. Bruce Timm explained in detail why the comic book couldn’t be adapted for an animated movie.
Alex Ross says Kingdom Come made him fall in love with Superheroes
In an interview with Wizard Universe, comic book writer and artist Alex Ross touched upon the topic of creating a visual concept for Kingdom Come. He noted that the idea for Kingdom Come first came up during his time with Marvels, adding that he started working on a 40-page pitch. He added,
“Kingdom Come made me fall in love with superheroes, and DC’s heroes in particular, all the more. So once I was done with the series, I really only wanted to spend more time with the classic forms of these characters if that was possible. It turns out it was.”
Ross mentioned that he initially pitched the story to James Robinson because he assumed that Robinson was a young wannabe Alan Moore and he wanted Kingdom Come to be as much like a Watchmen-type project as possible. The comic book writer revealed that majority of the DC editors had recommended Mark Waid for collaboration as he loved DC characters and was very well aware about them in depth.
“There’s a sense of how are these guys really different appearance-wise from villains? These characters are obviously getting into much more of a dark tone. Long before he would become well known, Brian Azzarello posed as the character 666, kind, giving the proverbial finger with his giant metal arm.”
Talking about the cover of the comic book, Ross explained that the logo and the painting are green. He explained that he used green for the cover because he was told at one point that green covers do not sell. So he went ahead and did the exact opposite of what he was told and mentioned that it’s the only painting he has kept from Kingdom Come. Ross noted that it feels like going against the world.
Bruce Timm noted Alex Ross’ ‘photorealistic’ imagery is why people remember Kingdom Come
In an interview back in 2017 via ComicBook, DC Animated Universe veteran animator and producer Bruce Timm shared the challenges the studios faced while trying to attempt to adapt Kingdom Come for animation. He said,
“The one that we hear all the time is Kingdom Come, and I have to like, crush everyone’s dream every single time because it’s just not within the scope of what we can do with these movies.”
Timm further acknowledged that the real reason why people remember Kingdom Come is not its story, uniqueness, or brilliance, but for the photorealistic superheroes. He mentioned,
“If we did an animated version of Kingdom Come, it would not look like that. We don’t have the money; there isn’t enough money on the planet to make it look like that, so there’s really no reason to do it.”
Bruce Timm mentioned that even if they do it with the resources they have, the audience would be disappointed, and the number one thing on Amazon and Amazon reviews would be, ‘one star doesn’t look like Alex Ross.’
Fans have pointed out that back in the day, there wasn’t enough technology to make the characters look realistic, but today, with AI in place, maybe Kingdom Come can be created. However, nothing has been confirmed or said about a potential adaptation by the studios yet.
Kingdom Come is available for purchase on Amazon.
